Thursday, June 3, 2010

Mad Desire to Dance by Elie Weisel

Doriel Waldman, a Polish Jew born in 1936, is 60 years old, miserable, alone and on the verge of insanity.  This novel unfolds in tje office of Dr. Thérèse Goldschmidt, Doriel's shrink, where he reveals himself to be an uncooperative patient, and his aggressive, obsessive rants on the origins of his troubles make for difficult reading.  This is a multilayered narrative emerges: the journey through sadness and madness is a volatile one that plods, on and on.  It does an excellent job of capturing the rantings of a madman but, it didn't make for pleasant reading.

Rating: 1 Do NOT Recommend